Montenegrin Partisan leader nicknamed "Tempo", one of the Yugoslav leaders singled out by Stalin's letter of 1948
Born to a peasant family in Crmnica, Montenegro, he took part in the student movement at Belgrade law school and joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in 1933. His habit of urging people to hurry earned him the nickname "Tempo". In the Second World War he sat on the Supreme Staff and led the Partisan headquarters in Bosnia, then organised the rising in Macedonia as Tito's personal representative, liaising with the Greek, Albanian and Bulgarian communists. After the war he headed the army's political directorate, and the Stalin–Molotov letter of 1948 named him among the "dubious Marxists". He went on to economic ministries, the federal vice-premiership and the chair of the trade-union federation.
Also known as: Svetozar Vukmanović Tempo
Activities and affiliations
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1933–1969
Communist Party / League of Communists of Yugoslavia (KPJ/SKJ)
Political and party leadership -
1941–1945
Military command
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1945–1948
Yugoslavia state institutionsHead of the Main Political Directorate of the Yugoslav Army
Military command -
1948–1958
Yugoslavia state institutionsVice-President of the Federal Executive Council
Economy, finance and planning
Career Timeline
- 1912.08.03Born in the village of Podgor in Crmnica, Montenegro.
- 1931Entered Belgrade law school and joined the revolutionary student movement.
- 1933Joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia.
- 1941.09.26Commander of the Partisan headquarters for Bosnia and Herzegovina; member of the Supreme Staff.
- 1943–1944As Tito's delegate, organised the rising in Macedonia and Kosovo and liaised with the Greek, Albanian and Bulgarian parties.
- 1945–1948Head of the Army's Main Political Directorate and deputy defence minister.
- 1948Elected to the Central Committee at the Fifth Party Congress.
- 1948.03.27The Stalin–Molotov letter named him among the "dubious Marxists".
- 1950Published How and Why the People's Liberation Movement of Greece Was Defeated.
- 1954–1958Vice-President of the Federal Executive Council.
- 1958–1967President of the Central Council of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Yugoslavia.
- 2000.12.06Died at Reževići, Montenegro.
The Tito–Stalin split of 1948 and the "dubious Marxists"
After the war Vukmanović served beside Tito from 1945 to 1948 as head of the army's Main Political Directorate and deputy defence minister. At the enlarged session of the Yugoslav Politburo on 1 March 1948, where grievances over Soviet advisers and economic pressure came into the open, he was among the leaders who spoke, and their remarks were passed on to the Soviet side.
The letter of the Soviet Central Committee of 27 March, signed by Stalin and Molotov, charged the Yugoslav leaders with slandering the Soviet party behind its back and named as the authors of such talk "dubious Marxists such as Djilas, Vukmanović, Kidrič, Ranković and others". According to the editor's note, all four had spoken at the enlarged session of 1 March. The reply of 13 April, signed by Tito and Kardelj, retorted that the Soviet side had named some of the best-known and most tested leaders of new Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav leadership held firm after the Cominform expelled the party in June, and he was elected to the Central Committee at the Fifth Party Congress that year.
In 1950 he published How and Why the People's Liberation Movement of Greece Was Defeated. Having dealt directly with the Greek Communist Party as Tito's delegate during the war, he weighed the blame for the defeat of the Greek revolution in its civil war, a book that formed part of Yugoslavia's polemic with the Soviet camp after the split. He went on to the mining ministry and the economic council, was Vice-President of the Federal Executive Council in 1954–1958, overseeing the economic reorganisation after the split, and chaired the trade-union confederation in 1958–1967.